II hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
I’m sure many of you, will have been made aware of a serious incident on the 158 bus at Blackhorse Road this week, where a college-aged young person was stabbed. The victim is now in a stable condition, which is pleasing. Thankfully, this didn’t involve any students from Kelmscott, and happened too early for any of our students to witness it. It is still very concerning, for all of us in the community though, as it happened so close to our school, and on a bus route that many of our students use.
Knife-crime is a scourge on our communities, exacerbated, of course, as knives are very accessible. Please speak to your sons and daughters again about the dangers of carrying a knife; statistics show, it is often the carrier themselves that is injured, for example. We will continue to take a very firm line with knives here in school, if any student is caught in possession of a knife, it is highly likely they will be permanently excluded from the school. If any student ever has any information about a young person carrying a knife, I urge them to speak to a member of staff, in confidence, as a matter of urgency, as we work together to ensure Kelmscott is the safest place to be. Safeguarding our community, will always be my number one priority.
If your child has been affected by the incident this week, our school counsellor and other members of the pastoral team, are here to help; please ask your child to speak to their form-tutor in the first instance. We will be discussing this matter, with students, during form time on Monday morning.
Tuesday this week marked World Poetry Day, students engaged in a number of activities, both in form time, as well as in lessons. A group of year 8 and 10 students took part in a climate change event; it is fantastic to see our students having the opportunity to lead on such matters in the local authority. Year 10 students were lucky enough to have an Art workshop, in school, with University College London, something, I’m told, they really enjoyed.
On Wednesday, we welcomed Councillor Alistair Strathern and Markhouse Ward Councillors Johar Khan and Sharon Waldron, to Kelmscott, for a ground breaking event for phase-two of our expansion. We toured the building site, and spoke to the site manager about the build. We were also presented with our SPACEs award, for phase-one of our expansion; our new canteen and activities studio. I am thrilled that soon, we will have world-class facilities to match our lofty ambitions for the school. Thank you to Zayn and Maleah from Year 9 for joining the presentation and for representing the school so well.
Thursday marked the start of Ramadan for our Muslim community – Ramadan Mubarak to you all. As this is the first time Muslim students in Year 7 have fasted, I wanted to, respectfully, remind you of our expectations of students here in school. Our understanding, following discussions with local Imams, is that students fasting, must successfully manage their ‘every day challenges’ whilst they are fasting. Therefore, we expect, them to complete their normal school curriculum, during the month of Ramadan. A common-sense approach is applied by staff, for example during PE lessons, where staff are mindful that some students may be fatigued and lacking energy. If you have any specific questions or queries in this regard, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
We have received details of a STEM work experience opportunity in the Easter holidays, for any students interested in a career in engineering or Science; more details and the application form can be found here: STEM Work Experience with Spectris Survey
On Sunday 26th March 2023 Leyton Orient Women's Team are playing Actonians FC at Leyton Orient's Stadium (14:00 kick off). Entry to this game is free, more details can be found here, if this is of interest to families.
A reminder from our Trips & Visits team to please adhere to deadlines for trip forms and payments, this ensures efficient and timely organisation of our many trips. Thank you for your cooperation here.
Finally, congratulations to Iman Fatima in 9m who topped the rewards points charts last week with twenty-five, keep up the good work.
We break up for the Easter holidays on Friday 31st March. This is a half day, students will be dismissed at 12.40pm.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher
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